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I am not implying that. The expectation was that there would be a pandemic and that, unfortunately, a lot of people would die. The idea was to avoid preventable

I am not implying that. The expectation was that there would be a pandemic and that, unfortunately, a lot of people would die. The idea was to avoid preventable deaths stemming from an overwhelmed healthcare system. It then somehow turned into full blown moral panic, attempting to minimize deaths from infections at almost any cost - something that we never did, and still do not do, with any other disease.

giraffe_lady 5y ago
> attempting to minimize deaths from infections at almost any cost - something that we never did, and still do not do, with any other disease. So first off no, not "at almost any cost." The largest, most effective mitigations were never on the table: wind down the entire global economy into "safe mode" and focus only on life-making activities; send all workers home except the truly necessary. Instead we sent home office workers while labeling as essential the food, delivery, and retail workers we forced to continue to serve them. Second, "we never did, and still do not do, with any other disease" well we fucking should. Every single preventable death is a tragedy of cosmic magnitude, and much disruption is justified in avoiding even one.
- zaroth 5y ago
  > Every single preventable death is a tragedy of cosmic magnitude, and much disruption is justified in avoiding even one. Couldn’t disagree more. Death is inevitable, and most death is preventable. There is absolutely nothing cosmically tragic about death. Government imposed disruption is only justified to a very measured extend. Think “seatbelt laws” and environmental and product safety regulations. We are endowed by our creator with inalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Most choices a human makes along that path will involve a measure of risk of shortened lifespan. The purpose of life for most people is not to live as long as possible. Certainly a government has no right or moral authority dictating that to anyone. And the most glaring point is that even if the goal is altruistic (i.e. extend lifespans) the implementation was a ineffective totalitarian shit show than could actually in net total cost more quality adjusted life-years than it saved.

giraffe_lady 5y ago

> attempting to minimize deaths from infections at almost any cost - something that we never did, and still do not do, with any other disease. So first off no, not "at almost any cost." The largest, most effective mitigations were never on the table: wind down the entire global economy into "safe mode" and focus only on life-making activities; send all workers home except the truly necessary. Instead we sent home office workers while labeling as essential the food, delivery, and retail workers we forced to continue to serve them. Second, "we never did, and still do not do, with any other disease" well we fucking should. Every single preventable death is a tragedy of cosmic magnitude, and much disruption is justified in avoiding even one.

zaroth 5y ago
> Every single preventable death is a tragedy of cosmic magnitude, and much disruption is justified in avoiding even one. Couldn’t disagree more. Death is inevitable, and most death is preventable. There is absolutely nothing cosmically tragic about death. Government imposed disruption is only justified to a very measured extend. Think “seatbelt laws” and environmental and product safety regulations. We are endowed by our creator with inalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Most choices a human makes along that path will involve a measure of risk of shortened lifespan. The purpose of life for most people is not to live as long as possible. Certainly a government has no right or moral authority dictating that to anyone. And the most glaring point is that even if the goal is altruistic (i.e. extend lifespans) the implementation was a ineffective totalitarian shit show than could actually in net total cost more quality adjusted life-years than it saved.